Insert Stinted Reality Here
by AsterOfTheMoon
Summary: The Anti-Cliché and Mary-Sue Elimination Society: In the midst of what seems like an uneasy peace, one of the darkest secrets is revealed…one kept in the dark for years.


(A/N: God, I finally got something written. I kinda felt I had to, after leaving so much stuff hanging, though...)

* * *

><p>"Got any plans for the rest of the night?"<p>

"Read some books, solve some world mysteries, do some dangerous stuff that none of you know I'm doing. The usual."

Tash laughed and drank more apple cider. "Say, this stuff's good. Where'd you get it?"

"I stole it."

"From where?"

"Chrys, of course. She was mind-controlled and was told to protect it with her life, so I had to use a curse-breaker on her."

"Oh, you."

"Hey, it's sarcasm day…"

Tash took another sip. "It's been so stressful nowadays…what with all of the issues and Runoa and the world going to blow apart, but it's nice to settle down. Mostly everyone's recovered. I think we can get back to a normal schedule."

"I'd enjoy that. It's as close to normal as we can get."

"Hey, it's the Society." She picked up the now-empty glass and placed it in the sink. "What'd you expect?"

"English classes in the morning and math in the afternoon."

"You're on a roll tonight."

"I try," said Adrian, smirking.

"Well, I'm taking my nightcap. I'll be in bed."

She walked away, picking up one of Aster's stray manga books and throwing it on the table. Adrian shot a glance at it: _Death Note_. _Seems like Aster's gone back to the already-finished ones. I thought she was watching that new magical-girl anime…_

"Adrian."

A stern voice jolted him from his thoughts. It was Phoenixia's.

"Ah, Phoenixia," said Adrian. "Don't tell me you found another trap leak…"

"Adrian, look at me, _now_."

Adrian turned around to see Phoenxia – something was wrong. She didn't look normal at all. There was hair dangling over her face, much like antennae, and her expression was…morbid.

"Phoenixia? Is something wr- "

"Come with me."

"But – "

"Come with me."

Not sure of what was going on, and worried that whatever was happening must be terrible enough to agitate Phoenixia this much, Adrian followed.

She led him through many hallways, and Adrian started to wonder how much of the Library had he really seen – since this certainly didn't feel familiar at all. They went up many staircases, through many passages, and at one point Adrian could swear he was crossing a bridge (over what, he had no idea).

Finally, they reached a door. Some numbers were engraved on it, and Adrian could only think, _Where have I seen those before?_

"There's something in here," said Phoenixia.

"Something?"

"Memories."

"Whose memories?"

"Yours."

* * *

><p>Aster pulled out of a sluggish sleep, feeling sick. She hobbled over to the bathroom, head spinning. <em>Ugh…Maybe I shouldn't have stayed up so late…or maybe I ate something.<em>

She threw up, twice.

Dragging herself back to bed, she lay listless, feeling weak. _It's probably a cold. I'll get Valerie-chan to make me something._

__

* * *

><p><p>

Adrian walked around the room, looking at the runes around the walls. "How come I didn't know about this?"

"Your memories of this room are locked here, too."

"And they're these runes?"

"No. The runes are part of the magic in here. The memories are in the air. I was instructed – by you – to bring you here when the time was right."

"And the time is right now?"

"Yes."

"So how do we get the memories back to me?"

Phoenixia smirked, and it wasn't a normal smirk – it made Adrian shiver.

"We unlock the seal."

She pounced on him and jammed a finger onto his right upper back, near his shoulder.

Where her finger landed, a bunch of lines appeared there, crossing each other like a large web. A large circle surrounded it, and began to expand until it was outside his body and engulfing the whole room.

Phoenixia released her finger, as the process had started. Slowly, Adrian's eyes darted left and right as everything came back to him.

_The plan. The plan has begun._

__

* * *

><p><p>

"Aster? What are you doing up so late?"

Adrian appraised Aster. Lying on the bed had gotten her nowhere. She was in the reading room, on a couch, trying to read some _Death Note_ to wear off the pain, when Adrian had entered, looking quite determined.

"Ah, Adrian-kun. I think I'm getting sick, so I'm trying to get it off."

"You think you're sick? Let me see."

Aster tried to sit up, but fell over on the ground as a result. Adrian ran to her.

"…Yep. Definitely it. Those bracelets are probably making it worse."

"Making what worse?"  
>"You're discharging magical energy. It's flowing away from you. Your food was poisoned – it seems like tonight there finally accumulated enough to start the process of you losing your magic."<p>

"Poison?" said Aster, eyes wide. "But who's been poisoning my food?"

"Me," said Adrian.

The next moment there was a blade in Aster's stomach. The moment after, she was on the ground.

The _Death Note_ manga lay nearby.

* * *

><p><em>Phoenixia's original program contains a stipulation that she will get all the memory pertaining to this plan restored to her on a certain date. While fighting her, Runoa tried to psychologically damage her by letting the cat out of the bag early, but she refused to believe it – until she got her memories back for herself.<em>

_The poison takes a very long time to accumulate when placed surreptitiously in food, and at the earliest it will activate in around two years. Therefore some kind of cover is necessary._

_It also seems to be very convenient that the first casualty to be eliminated happens to be one of the most powerful ones, and thus all her magic is now in our possession._

_Natasha Marquand will, naturally, be genre savvy and believe that at the current moment this is not the real Adrian. What she won't know is that for the past two years, she has never known the real Adrian._

__

* * *

><p><p>

"That's not the real Adrian."

Tash shook her head. "Remember the last time we relied on security footage to make an accusation? It turned out Adrian had tried to kill an evil clone of me, not me. There's no way Adrian would do that."

The statement received nods and comments of agreement from the rest of the Society.

"I'm sure Adrian can at least hold off for a little while. We need to tend to Aster," said Ben.

Valerie looked up from where she was looking at Aster. "Where are Chrys and Mizuho and Akai?"

* * *

><p><em>He watched as Akai and Chrys left for their original world, hoping to find comfort – and answers – from the original Aster, as Adrian had conveniently advised them.<em>

"_They're foolish, to accept a story that we're backed by the Powers That Be as soon as I say it. They didn't even require proof."_

"_I was foolish to believe you."_

"_You know your place. You're not supposed to intervene in actual conflict. You are not supposed to start a conflict. Chrys will not back you, either. You know your place, Mizuho."_

"_You're a monster," said Mizuho, as she stepped out of the portal._

_Adrian quickly deleted the names of Chrys, Akai, and Mizuho from the list of allowed persons in the Library._

__

* * *

><p><p>

"No breathing," said Valerie. "No breathing. No sign of anything."

"Come on," said Tash, clutching Aster's hand – which was cold.

"It's no use."

Everyone turned to Danielle, who had just spoken.

"She has no aura. She's gone."

* * *

><p><em>Petty emotional connections I might have made while deprived of memory? There is a fail-safe. It removes all emotions from any events of the past two years.<em>

_It's like a storybook._

__

* * *

><p><p>

"No," said Tash. "No, no, no!"

She was breathing heavily, and everyone was staring. Inara was crying, and it was starting to spread to other members of the Society.

"We brought back Adrian," said Harriet. "We'll bring back Aster."

But there was little conviction in her voice.

"Harriet?" said Michael, bolting in. "Emily's disappeared, too."

* * *

><p><em>Letter addressed from Willowe Foxblade. "In exchange for my assistance in carrying out this plan to execute the Society, threatening the balance of our noble race, and in exchange for my providing of the materials and locations to carry out this plan, along with mass modifications of memory to bolster your story, you agree to protect and keep from any harm my dear sister, Palm Tree Foxblade.<em>

_I hold this in your confidence."_

__

* * *

><p><p>

"Adrian! Get me out!"

Emily was sobbing, screaming out curses and pleas simultaneously. "You can't do this! Let me go!"

"I'm sorry, but I can't."

"Two years! They believed you! They trusted you!"

"This is what your sister wanted for you."

Emily was still crying – but she was quiet.

* * *

><p><em>The harvesting of magical energy, if it does not kill them, will debilitate them for any future attacks. In addition, such energy harvesting will also be collected into the air of the Library and distributed to our side.<em>

_No, Runoa. This wasn't a waste of time. And now I'd advise that you let me take my place again._

__

* * *

><p><p>

"Her soul must have some ties. She has some way to come back. There isn't – "

"It's no use trying."

Everyone turned towards the unfamiliar voice. A teal, curly-haired girl was leaning on a nearby wall. She had a pirate hat on, which didn't make her look like a pirate at all, and was wearing fuchsia light mail, a pair of gloves, and short boots. She was carrying two daggers on her waist, along with a large axe on her right side. There was a heart earring on her right ear, which didn't contribute at all to the overall image.

"How…" blurted Tash. "How did you get in here?"

"Author sent me," said the girl, quite flatly.

"Author? You mean – "

"Same author as that dead girl over there."

Everyone turned back to Aster, and then again to the new girl.

"But you're not a member of the – "

"I don't _want_ to be a member of your little…posse here. In fact I don't even want to be here at all. I'd rather be out questing, but _nooooooo_, dear author had to threaten me. Said it would be good for me, anyway. 'You'll get some character development!' Actually, I think I'm ruining my image. I could have run Ciar five times with all the time I've wasted here watching you."

Valerie blinked. "So…if your Author sent you here…"

"Yep. That girl's dead. And she's not coming back."

There was a moment of long silence as the despair set in.

"Anyway. My name's Ni. I'm a mage-warrior." She extended a gloved hand; Tash saw it had some bloodstains on it. Feeling that the glove was probably keeping any real, permanent alliance from happening, Tash uneasily shook it.

"Um…" said Stephen. "How old are you?"

Ni pursed her lips. "Hm…What day is tomorrow? I don't think it's Saturday. Well…I'll have to check my stats again. Somewhere between 17 and 20. I rebirth every three weeks back to 17, so…"

"Wait, wait, wait," said Terrie. "You're a Mabinogi character?"

"Got a problem with that?" said Ni, pulling out her daggers.

"No, no…"

"Don't be fooled by my level," said Ni. "I've rebirthed. I keep all my skills. And trust me, I like it that way."

The Society members looked around uneasily.

* * *

><p>That night, Tash organized a group to help her in her quest to get back the real Adrian. The core group included herself, Valerie, Michael, and Ni (since she said she would only offer her services for one day, as she refused to do anything that wouldn't result in benefit for herself). There were other subgroups, composed of the rest of the Society, that would keep formation.<p>

Ni was turning out to be very difficult to deal with. She was killing random creatures out of habit, since she didn't care for life as long as it gave her EXP, and the Society soon found she was willing to murder anyone who insulted her (or her clothing) before she remembered that killing wouldn't cause the victim to respawn with less EXP in the nearest town.

"Everyone's lives would be easier if we all had Phoenix Feathers," she sighed.

They found the door where Adrian had exited after killing Aster, knowing full well that he was expecting them.

"Time to avenge her."

They found Adrian at the end of a large hallway, sitting on a chair, staring intently at the door they had come from. As all of them knew, he had been expecting them. Emily was standing next to him, looking downcast.

There was a large jar in front of him, glowing with a soft white light, but nobody wanted to look at it, as it only added to the décor. But Tash felt that there was something…drawing coming from it.

"All right, time to go," said Ni. She donned a pink cloak and muttered under her breath, "Summon Nerevina."

A translucent deer appeared in front of her, radiating soft balls of light as it did. Quickly, Ni mounted the crystal deer and rushed at Adrian.

"Don't go so quickly!" yelled Tash, but it was too late; Ni had made the first strike. But the magic emitted from her daggers did nothing on Adrian, who was still sitting prone.

"…Please tell me that did _some_ damage," muttered Ni, clenching her teeth.

A grin spread across Adrian's face.

"I'm not going to deal with you now," said Adrian. "You're just going to annoy me. But since I can't let you stay, I'll have you dealt with."

Emily looked up.

"Emily!" yelled Tash. "Run!"

Emily shook her head.

Tash paled and took a few steps back. "Emily – but – "

"I appreciate it, Tash," said Emily. "I really do. And I'll never forget. But my family is the only thing I have left."

And she lunged at Tash.

Immediately Michael, Valerie, and Ni charged at her, but she raised her arms and threw them all back in a wave of pink-and-white energy and blown them all back. She then placed her hands together and released them, creating fifty glowing balls of energy that threw themselves at the Society.

The balls had some kind of will of their own. They were somehow damaging the members, causing pain as they passed through every member and came back for more.

Tash pulled out her staff, and yelled, "_Juari-Ken – "_

She stopped.

_That's weird. I can't remember – I can't remember – _

She waved the staff around, and no flames emitted.

_My magic can't fail me now. No, no!_

Harriet stepped forward to take her on. "Emily! You can't do this! Please, I'm begging you!"

"I'm sorry, Harriet," said Palm Tree. "But this was my fate. There was no way to change it."

She and Harriet grappled, with Palm Tree spawning weapons of every kind and sort of different types of energy as Harriet fumbled around with a gun trying to get to Palm Tree, but she simply couldn't get herself to shoot the girl she had tried to raise.

Michael summoned the Darkness, which successfully fizzled out the energy attacking him.

Palm Tree saw what had happened, and rushed towards the area to take care of Michael herself.

She took out a sword and aimed it at Michael. The Darkness rose up and deflected it.

The blade went sideways and hit Tash.

* * *

><p><em>Tash…You have to help me.<em>

_The jar. The jar._

_I promise. I will save you._

__

* * *

><p><p>

Tash, falling to the ground, felt the blood running from her and her senses falling away. Everything was blacking out.

In a last-minute impulse she reached for the glowing white jar and knocked it over.

"No!" yelled Adrian, and for the first time since Aster's murder there was genuine displeasure and even fear in his voice.

The broken jar lay in pieces, but the white, glowing substance rose up and entered into Tash's body. She started to glow – and then Tash got up, wounds fully healed, with eyes glowing completely white and strange white symbols up her arms.

She picked up her staff and waved it, almost ceremoniously, and white energy flowed from it – not flames – surging everywhere and extinguishing Palm Tree's magical weapons. The energy flowed around the room, spinning, growing brighter.

"No!"

Adrian quickly pulled Palm Tree away from the battle and released a cloud that suddenly enveloped them and vanished, leaving nothing behind.

Tash turned around to face them.

"It was close."

"Who are you?" said Harriet, taken aback.

"I am the Hope of Mena. Adrian imprisoned me in that jar, five years ago."

"I-Imprisoned?" said Michael. "Why – why would he do something like – "

"I know things about Adrian that none of you know."

"Are you going to just take her body like that?" said Ni, a little shocked but still quite bored-sounding. "Since that's not exactly right."

"I will have to come from time to time," said the Hope of Mena. "But from now…"

The light died down and Tash collapsed.

* * *

><p>"Michael, it talked to me, it <em>talked<em> to me."

Tash shook her head. "It told me…in my head. It saved me. But it told me…It told me that Adrian was real."

"That doesn't make sense. It just doesn't. Maybe it holds a grudge against Adrian, for imprisoning it for some good reason."

"I don't know," said Tash. "I don't know anymore."

She put her head in her hands and cried.

"And now, she's going to have to share her body with that _thing_," said Ni, visibly disgusted. "Well, I'll leave you guys now."

She turned around and walked off, out of sight, while a Society lay in shambles behind her.

* * *

><p>(AN: Happy April Fool's Day to you all.)


End file.
